McInnes lands plum racing role

Former David Jones CEO Mark McInnes, who resigned from the upmarket department store following a sexual harassment claim earlier this year, has landed a plum role with the newly merged Australian Jockey Club and Sydney Turf Club.

One condition of the club merger of the AJC and the STC, announced earlier this year, was that three independent directors be appointed to the board of the newly merged club, where the directors were selected on a skills basis and receive no pay.

Racing NSW received more than 28 applications for the roles. Macquarie Group executive director Laurie Macri and Steggles Chickens boss John Camilleri have also won positions with the newly merged entity.

Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys says: “Mark provides great marketing skill – he turned DJs around. He has unlimited ability on marketing and that was one of the decisions."

While Mr Macri and Mr Camilleri have owned and raced a number of horses over the years, by contrast, Mr McInnes is a relative novice, with interests so far in only three horses – Zuback, Miss Fascinator and Full Power.

However, Mr McInnes is a regular racegoer and was heavily involved with David Jones’s AJC sponsorship.